The end of another year and so here's a round up of what I've been up to musically. I've bought 38 albums this year, 13 that were actually released in 2010, the rest being a mixture of recent and classic releases that I've only just caught up with.
Among the old stuff is material by The National, Nils Lofgren, Starsailor, Super Furry Animals, Pink Floyd, Alter Bridge, Elton John, Newton Faulkner, Transatlantic, Lacuna Coil, Astra, Thriving Ivory, Jeff Buckley, JJ Cale, Mumford & Sons, Them Crooked Vultures, and The Reasoning.
The new releases were; Mexicolas The Minerva Suite, Lost From Atlas Lost From Atlas, Hope&Social April, Cheap Trick The Latest, Engineers In Praise Of More, Oceansize Self-preserved While The Bodies Float, The Union The Union, Iron Maiden The Final Frontier, Feeder Renegades, The Pineapple Thief Someone Here Is Missing, Kids In Glass Houses Dirt, Joe Bonnamassa Black Rock, and You Me At Six Hold Me Down. Looking back over this list I can see that it's a pretty eclectic mix; power-pop, blues, prog, indie, metal, rock, you name it.
We've seen 21 live gigs this year, seven covers bands; The Mothers, Rubber Bullets, The Mojos, Graf Zapplen, Bad Dog, Skint, and Flood Damage, the rest were artists presenting original material. At some of the gigs there were supporting bands that deserve mention as well so the line up of bands we saw this year comprises; Chantel McGregor, Dorien Starre, Comply Or Die, Adam Dawson, The Union, Hope&Social, Shed Seven, Ash, A Joker's Rage, Astrae, Morpheus Rising, GUN, Hazzard County, Boss Caine, Surprise...Fire, and The Hummingbirds.
Sadly, we missing the new lineups of Breathing Space and Mostly Autumn, but maybe next year. I've noticed this year that I am leaning somewhat in the direction of prog-metal, or at least prog-something. This isn't intentional, it's just the type of music that I'm enjoying at the moment. Having said that, my top band has got to be The Union who have delivered an outstanding rock album and a blistering live show this year. Roll on 2011, I think it's going to be another good one!
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Wednesday 15 December 2010
I am so innocent I swear to God oh but you pressure me / And I can't help but unwind
Friday 10 December - and as we rocket towards the end of the year the music is getting sparser, but in no way is the quality suffering as tonight two of us brave the snow and ice to see The Chantel McGregor Band at Fibbers. Now I've seen Chantel five times before, usually playing in a pub, but now she is writing her own material and doing a proper tour.
The turn-out tonight was disappointing low, probably in part due to the weather. We arrived in time to catch the last three songs being played by Steve Fulsham from Hull who was doing an acoustic set without the rest of his band. He sounded good, very good, and I'd like to hear more of him so I'll have to keep my eyes open.
Given that the crowd was a bit thin, we moved right down to the front next to the barriers and in a prime viewing position. In hindsight we were probably a bit too close to Martin Rushworth's drum kit and were therefore getting the benefit of the stage sound as well as through the speakers, but hey ho. The other member of the band was Richard Ritchie playing on a lovely looking 5-string bass.
Chantel took to the stage in her M&S slipper socks and immediately swung into action. As I have previously enthused, Chantel is a superb guitarist and has a great voice to boot. I didn't manage to get a set list but I'm pretty certain that she played Bridge To Better Days (Joe Bonamassa), Help Me (Sonny Boy Williamson), Come Back To Bed (John Mayer), Up In The Sky (Joe Satriani), Daydream (Robin Trower), High (Richie Kotzen), New Day Yesterday (Jethro Tull), and Sloe Gin (Joe Bonamassa). We also had a fair smattering of her own compositions; I'm No Good For You, Fabulous, Not Here With Me, Freefalling, Caught Out, and Like No Other. I have to admit that didn't really know what to expect of her own material, fearing that she wouldn't be able to pull off sufficiently sophisticated solos, but she blew my socks off with a range of musical styles, thoughtful and sometimes funny lyrics, and guitar solos to die for.
Between the songs there was a constant, endearing stream of anecdotes; snippets from Chantel's life ranging from buying dresses and perfume that she didn't want, ribs and chips, Dr Pepper and the women's toilets.
Finally, she encored with what she called her "15 minute" song which started with Had To Cry (Blind Faith) but may have segued into something else by the end, and an acoustic version of Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac).
We had a fantastic night's entertainment and I desperately implore readers to at least check out her videos on YouTube, but if you like virtuoso guitar playing get along to one of her live gigs. Very highly recommended.
The turn-out tonight was disappointing low, probably in part due to the weather. We arrived in time to catch the last three songs being played by Steve Fulsham from Hull who was doing an acoustic set without the rest of his band. He sounded good, very good, and I'd like to hear more of him so I'll have to keep my eyes open.
Given that the crowd was a bit thin, we moved right down to the front next to the barriers and in a prime viewing position. In hindsight we were probably a bit too close to Martin Rushworth's drum kit and were therefore getting the benefit of the stage sound as well as through the speakers, but hey ho. The other member of the band was Richard Ritchie playing on a lovely looking 5-string bass.
Chantel took to the stage in her M&S slipper socks and immediately swung into action. As I have previously enthused, Chantel is a superb guitarist and has a great voice to boot. I didn't manage to get a set list but I'm pretty certain that she played Bridge To Better Days (Joe Bonamassa), Help Me (Sonny Boy Williamson), Come Back To Bed (John Mayer), Up In The Sky (Joe Satriani), Daydream (Robin Trower), High (Richie Kotzen), New Day Yesterday (Jethro Tull), and Sloe Gin (Joe Bonamassa). We also had a fair smattering of her own compositions; I'm No Good For You, Fabulous, Not Here With Me, Freefalling, Caught Out, and Like No Other. I have to admit that didn't really know what to expect of her own material, fearing that she wouldn't be able to pull off sufficiently sophisticated solos, but she blew my socks off with a range of musical styles, thoughtful and sometimes funny lyrics, and guitar solos to die for.
Between the songs there was a constant, endearing stream of anecdotes; snippets from Chantel's life ranging from buying dresses and perfume that she didn't want, ribs and chips, Dr Pepper and the women's toilets.
Finally, she encored with what she called her "15 minute" song which started with Had To Cry (Blind Faith) but may have segued into something else by the end, and an acoustic version of Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac).
We had a fantastic night's entertainment and I desperately implore readers to at least check out her videos on YouTube, but if you like virtuoso guitar playing get along to one of her live gigs. Very highly recommended.
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